Welcome, dear reader!!
So have you ever really wondered about how Abraham dealt with that famous command from God? We’ve all read it, and the Bible’s brevity tends to make it feel like he was cool with it, right? And you’ve probably wondered about Isaac’s reaction to it all, right?
Well, my man Makafui Torkornoo is back with another great story, based on this, and trust me, this is gonna be intense! Enjoy!
It’s dawn.
I don’t have a clock to prove it, but it’s dawn. It looks very dark outside, but sun rays always creep in before they streak the room, and I’m a master at catching them as they creep.
It shouldn’t be dawn. Day doesn’t need to rush in like this. Not this day. Especially not this day.
I tried to sleep. My bride tried to make me sleep. Granted, her tired self couldn’t actually do anything to put me to bed, but her efforts usually inspire change.
Today’s different.
Today’s troubling.
Today’s where we find out a heck of a lot starting with the question, “What kind of man are you?”
Today’s the day where I choose between my promise and my Provider.
Today’s when I sacrifice my only son.
*****
I know I’m extra.
Let me rephrase that: I know you THINK I’m extra.
Not extra as in excessive or bratty or anything like that. More like you think I’m really weak or excessively submissive.
Most of you know that I was a child when it happened, so you imagine that I was like five or six or even a baby. The smart ones among you probably found out that I was actually about seventeen. You may be right, you may be wrong, but surely you can’t be far off. And if you’re not far off, then your next question’s probably something like, “WHAT TEENAGER DOESN’T STAND UP FOR HIMSELF WHEN HIS FATHER TRIES SOMETHING LIKE THIS?”
It’s a fair question, maybe even a good one.
You may even get cocky enough to follow that with, “IF MY FATHER TRIED SOMETHING LIKE THAT, I WOULD FIGHT HIM!” Or it’s distant cousin, “I WILL CALL THE POLICE!”
But before we proceed, allow me to ask you something.
You know how you all have this inherent desire to, uh, PLEASE, your fathers? How you all have this need to not defy your dad even if he looks like a lunatic, and you will only traverse that need once you’re sure he really is a lunatic?
You don’t even want to obey him half the time, but you typically don’t want to defy him.
In your case, it’s because you fear that roast or maybe that butt-whooping that follows when you say no for ego reasons.
In my case, it’s a little bit trickier than that. You see, we don’t fear fathers around here.
We REVERE them.
In these times, your father’s name is literally your ticket. You’re only as valuable as your father’s opinion of you, and people treat you differently based on who your father is. First, we depend on our dads for food and covering, then we help them get the food and covering. Even with all that, they could decide not to leave us any part of the family business when they’re no more.
Also, and this is key, the blessings or curses they speak over us will follow us until we die. They usually make these pronouncements based on what we did or didn’t do for them before they passed. Your whole life is decided by how your father feels about you on one day, and he doesn’t get to take back what he says.
Keep in mind that grace wasn’t a thing yet, and mothers had to resort to extraordinary measures to get any mercy for their kids. So, your mum really couldn’t do much for you if you went against your dad for any reason. This is not the 21st Century. This is not 2000 A.D. This is as B.C. as B.C. gets. Going against your dad is only topped by going against God on the list of no-nos for kids.
Now that you know all of that, are you sure you would still fight that man if you were in my shoes in this time period?
You’re what’s going to happen after me and mine improve upon my father’s methods, and then my kids improve upon my methods, and on and on until Israel’s kings and Rome’s emperors, and world wars and car seat laws, and then social media. (Somewhere in there will be Paul the Apostle, who will try to help by saying, “Fathers, provoke not your children to anger.” Be advised, that part of the text will forever be skipped until you become a parent. If you have the memory of a fly, you’ll skip it too.)
By now, either you know who I am or you’re mad confused and losing your bearings. Let me help you out a little bit.
You know how people talk about the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? We’re those guys. At least, we’re two of them; Jacob’s another subject. (I haven’t even known his mother yet, and I don’t mean that in a friendly manner.)
Anyway, the point is, these are not the times in which sons get to talk back to their fathers, even if they mean absolutely no harm, which is most often the case. So no, I wasn’t weak or excessively submissive, and I certainly wasn’t a robot who just took orders.
I was simply the son of a very crazy man in a very wild time.
